this surtax, he went so far as to send obama a copy of john kennedy's "the rise and fall of great powers," as well. there is certainly some measure of support, whether it has any chance of passing, i think that's another story. >> and anna, we've heard the president complain about the leaks that have been coming out of these meetings, but i'm just curious. do we know anymore about what peter orszag said or what was asked of him in that meeting? >> i think we still know a little bit, but certainly he was emphasizing the costs. he's made it clear, he was at a conference earlier this month and said that, as you had said earlier, every 10,000 troops is going to entail a cost of about $10 billion and he said that was very roughly speaking, but, i mean, i think that gets at the cost. they wanted to make it clear that he was a big part of the discussion. >> very interesting. anna mulrine, thank you very much, "u.s. news & world report". >> tamron, the politics is so fascinating. they can box in the president by saying, okay, at a time when everyone is concerned about deficits, if this is someth
